BEIJING, April 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AirVisual, a social enterprise driving free air quality data and forecasts, has facilitated the first real-time public air pollution measurements from a growing number of communities across the globe, by equipping engaged citizens with accessible and connected air monitors.

The AirVisual Node high accuracy air quality monitor has disrupted the monitoring market by empowering users to broadcast their local readings onto the global air quality map. Since its 2016 launch, an engaged community of air quality activists has grown a worldwide network of these connected sensors, becoming the first to report real-time PM2.5 air quality on behalf of countries including Italy, Cambodia, Philippines, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Mauritius, revolutionizing the way that environments are publicly reported.

"We are seeing a global movement of community driven environmental engagement in response to the perceived urgency of the situation, and varying government response," says Chloe Parkin, AirVisual Project Manager. "It is now clear that people around the world are eager to take this responsibility for their environment."

Air pollution continues to be the planet's leading environmental health risk, with 92% f the world's population shown to be breathing unsafe air. "Air quality data and monitoring is an essential step to identifying pollution hazard and sources, empowering people to protect themselves and ultimately tackle emission sources for a cleaner, safer planet," Parkin explains.

In the past year alone, this novel data has had tangible impacts on these areas, from identifying polluting factories and affecting policy decisions, to providing many communities their very first insight to what they are breathing, enabling proactive responses. New communities added to the map span from Vladivostok, Russia to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Fairbanks, Alaska to Minton, Singapore.

With the help of their Node monitors, AirVisual now hosts the largest global air quality data set, covering 9,000 cities across nearly 70 countries. Air monitoring, however, is still disproportionate globally, with vast parts of the world unaware of the potential risk in the air. "While the community has begun charting new territories, providing millions more people with their first air measurements, there's still a long a way to go before we have a complete picture of global air quality and can actively respond," says Parkin.

AirVisual's air quality data is made freely available on its air pollution app and website. API access is also available to developers, growing the reach and potential application of the data.

About AirVisual

AirVisual provides the tools and information people need to beat polluted environments. By employing big data, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologies, AirVisual delivers user-friendly, simple solutions to optimize health and well-being, both indoors and out. To learn more about air quality, its impacts on health and AirVisual's family of monitoring solutions, please visit airvisual.com.